This invention is related in general to digital timers and in particular to means for effecting operation of the digital timer.
In the past, various types of digital timers were provided with counting or time indicating wheels or drums which were drivingly interconnected by various means, such as a geneva or mutilated gear, to indicate at least hours, tens-of-minutes, and minutes viewable through windows or the like provided at predetermined positions with respect to the drums. In many of the past digital timers, a synchronous timing motor was drivingly interconnected with the minute drum (or a second indicating drum) to effect the digital time indicating function of the drums. In addition, various means for manually resetting the drums to indicate a selected digital time were also provided in some of the past digital times. The past digital timers were of various constructions and sizes, and one criteria was to miniaturize or make the digital timer as small as possible since, in many installations therefor, space was at a premium. One of the disadvantageous or undesirable features of at least some of the past digital timers was that if the operator or user did not make the exact correct time setting of the time indicating drums, the digits thereon would not index into their respective digital time viewing windows accurately. Another disadvantageous or undesirable feature of some of the past digital timers was that due to gear backlash in the gear train or the like for driving the time indicating drums, the operator or user may have set the digital time accurately but lag in the gear train produced inaccurate positioning of the digits on the time indicating drum at the respective windows thereof. Yet another disadvantageous or undesirable feature of some of the past digital timers was that they were inordinately large with respect to the relatively small operating spaces provided therefor in some of the current miniaturized assembly or manufacturing applications for such digital timers.